Evangelicals Now
<< January 1998 >>

Daily Devotions from the Puritans

Daily Devotions from the Puritans
By I.D.E. Thomas
Gwasg Bryntirion Press (formerly Evangelical Press of Wales).
384 pages. £8.99
ISBN 1 85049 130 5

The writings of the Puritans are, for many, uncharted waters. By bringing together a selection of bite-sized extracts from various Puritan authors, the editor of this book of daily readings and meditations hopes to share with the uninitiated some of these 17th-century gems. Some of the authors, such as Bunyan, Baxter and Sibbes, are almost household names; others are much less familiar.

Each extract is preceded by a short Bible verse, quoted from the King James Version. The extracts vary in style: some explain the verse in its context, others take a word or phrase and comment on a related doctrinal issue. There are indeed some gems. I was particularly pleased to discover Richard Steele's 'Puritan Sermons' and 'A Remedy for Wandering Thoughts'.
I had some reservations. The Bible passages are very short (usually a single verse or phrase) and, in some cases, the exegetical link between the verse and comment is rather tenuous. This means that while the vast majority of the readings are heart-warming and mind-stretching, they are by no means all good models of how to interpret Scripture. And because of the length of passages, there is also a danger that the reader may feed on the Puritans' thoughts rather than on God's Word itself.
Having said that, this reader found the book a good introduction to Puritan writings and would recommend it as part of daily devotions-but as an extra course rather than the main meal.

Mary Davis
The Round Church, Cambridge